Jury: Life sentence in Las Vegas karaoke slaying

LAS VEGAS 
A Las Vegas jury on Monday spared the life of a man described as a Chinese gang enforcer who was convicted of stabbing a man to death in a karaoke bar over a $10,000 gambling debt.

The jury handed down a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Xiao Ye Bai, 25. The jurors last week found him guilty of killing a man with at least 32 slashes and wounding two other people in 2009 at the Forbes KTV bar and restaurant in Las Vegas.

The charges, which included first-degree murder, extortion, kidnapping, conspiracy and burglary, qualified Bai for the death penalty.

Bai remained stoic as the long preamble to the sentence was read. His mother, seated in the back of the courtroom between two young men, shook and buried her head in her hands. Her rapid breathing turned to sobbing when the life sentence was announced.

A judge is scheduled to formally impose the sentence Feb. 5.

Bai's mother declined to speak to the media through the two young men, whom the defense team described as members of Bai's "god family."

The defense team welcomed the lighter sentence, though it still plans to appeal, attorney Robert Draskovich said.

"This whole case was about what the verdict was going to be," he said. "We are all very happy."

Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the jury Thursday that sparing Bai's life would unleash a ruthless criminal into Nevada's state prison system.

The jury agreed with defense lawyers who said Bai was taking classes to make himself a better person.

Authorities allege Bai is also responsible for killing one person and wounding another outside a karaoke bar in San Gabriel, Calif., months before the Las Vegas stabbing. He isn't charged in that case.

During the trial, Bai apologized for the stabbing, which prosecutors say was on orders from the Taiwan-based gang United Bamboo.

DiGiacomo said he had never seen a trial like this one this during his 13 years as a Las Vegas district attorney.

"There are very few cases where you find a guy whose career it is to kill people," he said.